The Delhi High Court on Monday dismissed the bail applications of Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam, and seven other accused in the 2020 Delhi riots “larger conspiracy” case. A division bench comprising Justice Naveen Chawla and Justice Shalinder Kaur pronounced the verdict.
The other accused in the case include Athar Khan, Khalid Saifi, Mohd Saleem Khan, Shifa ur Rehman, Meeran Haider, Gulfisha Fatima, and Shadab Ahmed. The accused were arrested on different dates: Sharjeel Imam on 28 January 2020; Umar Khalid on 13 September 2020; Athar Khan on 29 June 2020; Khalid Saifi on 26 February 2020; Mohd. Saleem Khan on 24 June 2020; Shifa ur Rehman on 26 April 2020; Meeran Haider on 1 April 2020; Gulfisha Fatima on 4 April 2020; and Shadab Ahmed on 11 June 2020.
All the accused had challenged the trial court’s earlier orders denying them bail in the case.
During the hearings, Umar Khalid, represented by Senior Advocate Trideep Pais, submitted that “merely being on WhatsApp groups, without sending any message, is no criminality.” Pais also argued that “there is no recovery, money or otherwise, effected from Khalid” and that the alleged secret meeting on the night of 23-24 February 2020 “was not at all secretive as claimed by the prosecution.”
Khalid Saifi, represented by Senior Advocate Rebecca John, contended: “Can UAPA on the basis of innocuous messages or their (prosecution) attempt to make stories out of such messages, can it become a reason to deny me bail or is it even a ground to prosecute me under UAPA?” She further submitted that Saifi deserved to be released on bail on the ground of parity with three co-accused who had been granted bail in June 2021.
Sharjeel Imam submitted that he is “completely disconnected from all the co-accused persons and is not part of any kind of conspiracy or conspiracy meetings as alleged by the Delhi Police.” Imam’s counsel, Advocate Talib Mustafa, added that Imam’s alleged role in the riots “is stated to be till January 23, 2020, and the last overt act relied upon by the Delhi Police is a speech delivered by him in Bihar.”
Opposing the bail pleas, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing Delhi Police, said: “If you are doing something against the nation, then you better be in jail till you are acquitted or convicted.” Mehta argued that the accused persons’ intention was “to globally defame the nation by choosing a particular day for more rioting and more arson.” Delhi Police was also represented by Special Public Prosecutor Amit Prasad.
In a related matter, another coordinate bench of Justice Prasad and Justice Harish Vaidyanathan Shankar recently denied bail to co-accused Tasleem Ahmed in FIR 59/2020. The FIR, registered by Delhi Police’s Special Cell, names Tahir Hussain, Umar Khalid, Khalid Saifi, Isharat Jahan, Meeran Haider, Gulfisha Fatima, Shifa-Ur-Rehman, Asif Iqbal Tanha, Shadab Ahmed, Tasleem Ahmed, Saleem Malik, Mohd. Saleem Khan, Athar Khan, Safoora Zargar, Sharjeel Imam, Faizan Khan, and Natasha Narwal as accused under various provisions of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967.
(With inputs from Live Law)
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